Abstract

The vision for Celent’s Model Bank research was to try to answer an apparently simple question: “What would it look like for a bank to do everything right with today’s technology?” Of course, the question is not nearly as simple as it appears. The terms “everything” and “right” mean very different things to different banks depending on their size, the complexity of their operations and product sets, and their technological starting points.

“Our approach was to offer, at a high level, some key best practices in the usage of technology that a ‘model bank’ would use,” says Bob Meara, Senior Analyst with Celent’s Banking Group and coauthor of the report. “These examples span the spectrum from infrastructure and architecture to product development, marketing/sales, distribution/channel management, transaction processing, customer service/support, security and risk management.”

“Of course, there is no such thing as a single Model Bank—every bank does some things well, and others not as well when it comes to technology. So we set out to gather as many real world examples of effective usage of technology as possible. These case studies are presented as components of a theoretical model bank’s IT systems and practices,” says Stephen Greer, Celent Analyst and coauthor of the report.

Although brief, nearly all of the 21 model bank component case studies include detailed descriptions of business drivers, technology environments, and quantitative success metrics.

For the first time, Celent chose to honor a single Model Bank with the distinction of Model Bank of the Year. For 2012, this distinction belongs to RHB Bank Berhad, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for its Easy by RHB branch transformation initiative. A detailed case study of the Easy by RHB initiative will be published separately.

Celent will be gathering cases for the 2013 awards throughout the year. Banks may nominate themselves for the 2013 awards at www.celentmodelbank.com.